


LOVE IS ONLY FOR THE BRAVE TALE

by emiamy04



Category: Harry Styles - Fandom
Genre: Disguise, F/M, Fantasy, Gods, One Shot, Tale, The Canterbury Tales - Freeform, it was meant to be an essay but I kinda got carried away, prince - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:14:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27648028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emiamy04/pseuds/emiamy04
Summary: Where Harry is known as Harold Edward, is the prince of Holmes Chapel and doesn't want anything to do with women. Until...
Relationships: Harry Styles/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	LOVE IS ONLY FOR THE BRAVE TALE

**Author's Note:**

> Let's start by saying this story wasn't meant to be a fanfiction in the first place. I had to read The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer for school and one of the exercises I had to do was to write a tale similar to the ones present in the book. But, I kinda got carried away... and here we are. This work is not like the fanfictions you're probably used to read, but I thought I'd give it a shot and post it here. Let me know what you think about it! Hope you enjoy.

Once upon a time, in a small village near the forest, lived a beautiful girl. Her golden hair fell gently over her shoulders in soft waves and her eyes were bluer than any summer skies. The features of her visage were gentle, her skin whiter than snow, a delicate shade of coral tinted her cheeks. Her rosy lips were almost always stretched in the sweetest smiles, smiles which made her lovely dimples pop out. She wore modest clothes, her parents were no more than bakers after all, but she didn’t mind and loved her life as it was. She was careless and young, kind and loving. Her name was Aileen and her biggest desire was to find a man who would love her as she loved him and with whom she would spend the rest of her life. 

One day she was walking in the woods by herself, humming under her breath, when she heard the muffled noise of metal collide in the distance. Aileen, being the curios girl she was, followed the sound and soon arrived on the edge of a clearing. In the middle were two men with swords, but it didn’t look like they were fighting, more like training. Aileen caught only a glimpse of the red hair of the man on the left, because her full attention was caught by the young man on the right. He was the epitome of beauty, his chocolate curls just barely brushing his shoulders, the sharp lines of his jaw creating contrast with the gentle features of his face, soft, full, red, red lips standing out on his fair skin. He was thin, but fit, broad shoulders covered with an expensive-looking, black cloak. Suddenly, the young man looked up and his piercing, green eyes met Aileen’s. It lasted just a brief moment, then a deep frown appeared on the man’s face and he looked away, folded his sword in the sheath hanging from his belt and motioned the red haired guy to follow him. Soon, the two men exited the clearing and were out of sight. Aileen was so mesmerised by the man’s beauty, she came to the conclusion she’d fallen in love. She wanted to win his heart, but how? She decided to consult the gods about it.

The next day, Aileen set off to the nearest temple, and once she arrived, she invoked the gods. Three of them showed up: Aphrodite, goddess of love, beauty, pleasure and procreation; Ares, god of war; Athena, goddess of wisdom, war and crafts. They listened carefully to the story of the girl, and when she was finished, Aphrodite said: 

“I believe the young man who stole your heart to be Harold Edward Styles, prince of Holmes Chapel. Don’t you agree, Athena?”

“Yes, it’s most definitely him we’re talking about. No mortal is as handsome as he is.” Athena answered.

“There’s only one problem though, young girl. He’s not interested in finding a wife. He loves fighting and he is really good at it, he’s convinced no woman could ever be equal to him.” Ares added.

“What can I do to make him change his mind? There has to be something” said Aileen, sounding desperate.

“I might have the solution.” Aphrodite exchanged a look with the other two gods, then proceeded, “It is not easy though and it will take a lot of energy and effort, constancy and, most of all, bravery. There is still a possibility of failing, which implicates a life full of shame and sorrow and in the worst scenario, death. Are you willing to take such a big risk to follow your heart?”

“Whatever it takes, I’m in.” 

—-

Followed two long months full of training and learning the arts of war. Ares and Athena had instructed a group of their magical servants to teach everything about fighting to Aileen and they had taken it up on themselves to go check on her improvements once a week.  
Finally, one day the two gods announced she was ready. They provided her with a strong and beautiful armour and the best weapons in the kingdom. With the helmet on it was impossible to notice Aileen was actually a girl. 

—

A messenger was sent off to the palace of Holmes Chapel to announce a strong warrior was coming and wanted to confront the famous Harold Edward Styles in battle. And who was Harold Edward to back down from such an offer?   
The prince got ready, confident he would win yet another battle, and waited in the empty space in the middle of the forming audience just outside his palace for the mysterious warrior to show up. When finally he saw a small group of people approaching, Harold noticed the one in the middle, supposedly the warrior, considered he was the only one wearing an armour, wasn’t very big at all, rather he looked small and fragile. The prince was a bit surprised, but he could already see himself winning without much of an effort. 

—

Aileen was terrified. She was about to fight with the strongest warrior in the entire kingdom, also known as the man she loved. She drew a shaky breath and took a step forward. She was now in front of the man. He was looking at her with curios, yet determined eyes. Aileen felt her heart sink, she loved him so much, she had to do this. She picked up all the courage left in her body and lifted her sword. Harold Edward mimicked her moves and the two metallic objects collided. Soon Aileen found balance in their moves and relaxed, remembering all the tips her teachers had taught her. The battle had started. 

—

Harold was surprised when the warrior started fighting, revealing he was stronger than it seemed. His moves were smooth, elegant and precise. It looked like he was dancing on the battlefield, everything he did, he did prettily. The prince was mesmerised, really. They kept fighting, none of them seeming to slacken off. However, when the elegant warrior lifted off the ground with a perfect pirouette, landing smoothly in front of Harold, the attention of the young man was so caught by the other man’s move that he lost control for a brief second. It was enough though for the elegant warrior to push Harold and pin him down on the ground with his foot. Harold tried to squirm out of the other’s grip, but it was useless. It really seemed the mysterious warrior had won, for the first time Harold Edward had been defeated. The audience cheered at the newfound winner, who offered Harold his hand to help him off the ground, which he reluctantly accepted. The warrior then lifted his hand to silence the audience, then proceeded to slowly remove his helmet. What Harold wasn’t expecting was to see long, blonde, shiny hair come out from under the helmet, connected to the head of the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. That’s right, a girl. It was a girl who he’d been fighting and it was a girl who defeated him. Suddenly Harold realised she was the same girl he had seen a couple months earlier while training in the woods. He was disgusted then, because he thought she was another one of his many admirers who didn’t even know how to lift a sword, but now he had totally changed his mind about her and was stunned and speechless. He thought he might be falling in love.

The girl started speaking.

“Hello, my name is Aileen” her voice was sweet and God, even her name was pretty. 

“There’s a reason why I’m here and I’d be glad if Your Highness the prince of Holmes Chapel would let me explain it to him. In private, if that’s not too much of a burden.”

Harold immediately instructed his servants to take the lovely girl to his palace and help her get cleaned and dressed. Then he met up with her in the sitting room where they talked in front of two cups of tea. 

—

Five months later Aileen and Harold were standing facing each other in front of the altar of the church of Holmes Chapel.

“Harold Edward Styles, do you take Aileen Caroline Francis as your lawfully wedded wife, to love and cherish from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health? If so, say, I do.”

“I do” said Harold smiling lovingly down at Aileen.

“And Aileen Caroline Francis, do you take Harold Edward Styles as your lawfully wedded husband, to love and cherish from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health? If so, say, I do.”

“I do” said Aileen, with glossy eyes and a soft smile curving her lips. 

Finally the priest said, “It is my pleasure to pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.”

Harold leaned down, bringing his hand under Aileen’s chin, gently lifting it before resting both his hands on her cheeks. His raspberry coloured lips easily found her rosy, plumper ones and they connected in a slow, sweet and passionate kiss. The people attending the wedding clapped and cheered, but the two lovers barely heard them, too caught up in each other to pay attention to anything else. 

In the sky above them, inside of their flying palace, because they are gods and they can, Aphrodite, Ares and Athena made a toast to the couple, and especially to Aileen and her bravery, because it’s known that love is only for the brave.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't forget to let me know your thoughts on this story in the comments!   
> Thank you for reading :)
> 
> All my love,   
> E xx


End file.
